Formation of Hungary-UK Business Council holds huge potential

At the Hungarian embassy in London, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó signed a cooperation agreement on setting up the Hungary-UK Business Council, a significant step forward in bilateral economic relations. The Business Council will play an important role ensuring that, in the context of Brexit, Hungary should be best positioned in terms of the competition for investors looking for a new location replacing the United Kingdom.

The formation of the Council is based on the annual Investors' Forum held in previous years with the participation of large companies from the UK, extending and institutionalising that initiative. The Hungary-UK Business Council will provide a forum for asserting bilateral interests between investors and government decision-makers in Hungary and the UK, while the extensive network of its members will be conducive to further investments and partnerships.

Members of the Business Council include UK investors British American Tobacco (BAT), British Petroleum (BP), British Telecom (BT), CP Holdings, Maltacourt, Provident, Tesco, among others, as well as individuals including Andrew Cumptsy (Enterprise Forum), Emma Edham (Turkish Chamber of Commerce), Vilmos Gelsey (Unicredit) and, on behalf of London, Jeremy Browne.

According to 2015 data, the United Kingdom is Hungary's 11th most important trade partner, which accounts for a share of 2.9% in Hungarian trade. In Hungarian export and import, the UK ranks 7th and 14th respectively, with a share of 3.9% and 1.9%.